American Dream Meadowlands shopping center may not be open for 2014 Super Bowl in New Jersey
Published: Tuesday, June 19, 2012, 9:29 AM Updated: Tuesday, June 19, 2012, 9:29 AM
By Myles Ma/NJ.com

EAST RUTHERFORD — The developer of a $3.8 billion entertainment complex at the Meadowlands recently told The New York Post that the planned shopping mall at the site may not be ready in time for the 2014 Super Bowl at MetLife stadium.

"People keep talking about the Super Bowl, but I'm more interested in when shovels get in the ground," Wayne Hasenbalg, head of the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority, told The Post, "I'm ... optimistic ... by the end of year."

Triple Five, owners of the Mall of America in Minnesota and the developers of the "American Dream" complex announced its plans for the long-delayed Meadowlands project over in 2011. The developer plans to turn the space into a tourism, entertainment and retail destination for New Jersey and the New York metropolitan area.

Critics of the project say the development will exacerbate an already congested traffic situation in the area. The plans for "American Dream" include indoor amusement and water parks, and officials were already unsure whether the those new facilities, which will be built on a site adjacent to the existing structure, would be ready for a Super Bowl debut.

The Wall Street Journal reported earlier this month that Triple Five would use a $700 million loan from Deutsche Bank AG to revive the project. Finishing the mall and adding the amusement and water parks is expected to cost more than $1.7 billion, on top of the $1.9 billion already spent on the project.

Triple Five expects American Dream to attract more than 40 million visitors a year, according to the project website. Developers describe the project is "80 percent complete."